The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-08-11
AN OLD KENTUCKY HOME.


a Mansion Once Occupied by Governor.
The homestead was of square. rough
hewn blocks of granite, and had been
built before the days of professional
architects by a former governor of the
state, who was a stone mason in early
life. and worked honestly at his trade
until the people called him into another
sphere of action. The house was ut
once thoroughly comfortable and ex-
tremely inconvenient; additions had
been made to the main building at
different times, with no idea of general
effect. From the broad front porch
one entered at once a large,
high room, which was parlor, library,
and sitting-room all in one; and very
attractive it was, with cheerful paper
and carpet, comfortable rocking-chairs
and sofas, and big open fireplace with
great brass knobbed andirons. Oppo-
site the front door, and leading to the
back porch, was a hall, from which a
door opened directly upon some steps
leading to what was called the ''big
upstairs" This room, which was of
necessity entered head-foremost rs one
assembled the stairs, took in the main
body of the house, and held ALWAYS
three double beds, with ample space
for as many more when the house
was crowded. Two bedrooms opened
from the parlor below, and from the
back one another flight of stairs as
cended to the rooms above, known as
the little upstairs" The characteristic
feature of the building vas the entire
lack OF any means of communication
between the two parts of the upper
floor. In the large room over the
parior one might hear plainly the voices
OF the occupants of an adjacent room,
but to reach them it was necessary to
descend one stairway, traverse the
whole length of the house, and ascend
another flight. Above the little up-
stairs" was the attic: here hung fes-
toons of okra, red peppers, onions,
and garden herbs for seasoning: in the
corners We're bags of nuts and punches
OF popcorn, and apples and peaches
were spread on deal boards to dry;
there were bits of old harness, a rag
ged side-saddle that was to be re-
covered some day, shot gun or two,
ana some hunting-cOatS; and in a dark
sheIylng recess were some relics of the
day when Uncle Doctor was a medical
student and practicing physician
some bones which Mr. Venus would
have classed as ''human various. :"
These were source of infinite terror
to every child and negro on the place,
and made visit to the attic aftov Gl,I,sIr
perilous expedition, neces o,
ample oompanionship, ara subject to
sudden panics. ~
FROM the frnrIt bedroom downstairs
Tor II "..s impossible to 90 anywhere
"o"paC the house without passing
through somebody's private apart
mcnt-three or four steps led down to
large porch, open only on two sides,
and these so trellised and covered with
vines that it was the most delightful of
summer dlnlng-rOOms. From this
porch opened capacious storerooms,
and just around the corner was the
kitchen, large, disorderly, often crowd
ed, but clean in the main, and the
source of most toOthsome and abundant
fare. AT one corner of the porch
stood an irOn-bound hogshead, which
caught and stored the rain-water from
the roof. We used to listen in a sum-
mer storm to the raindrops on the
shingles, and hear them gutter along
through the tin spout down to this old
receptacle; and when the rain was
over, when the sweet, earthly odor
was abroad, and the sun was hanging
glistening jewels on every flower and
shrub, we would climb upon the bal
ustrade of the porch and peer eagerly
into the depths of the old hogshcad,
looking for the real diamonds that the
negroes said were sometimes brought
down by the rain. After breakfast
there was always Il group of negroes
about the porch, each one armed with
a tin cup or plate, and waiting for the
daily allowance of molasses, sugar, and
coffee to be given out from the store
room, hoping also for some special
tidbit from the remains Of the meal.
Walks made of Hat, irregular stones
led from the kitchen door to various
points in the yard; to the lot where the
milking was done; to the smobe-house,
the duck-pond, and poultry-yard, and
the line of orderly cabins known as
''the quarters" 10 the garden with its
picturesque mingling of fruit and
vegetables and old-fashioned flowers;
and to the cisterns, to whose water the
limestone rock gave the same tonic
quality that it imparts to the blue
grass, making this the finest grazing
country in the world. Near the garden
was the circular ice-house, a most
seductive building, whose slanting
roof began about two feet above the
ground, and was delightfully."- mossy
and slippery. There we would slide
by the hour, and many were the rents
not only in our clothes, but in our
small persons as well-which were due
to its ragged shingles and bent nails.
We knew also the delicious GOODNESS
and dimness of the interior on a hot
summer day, and enjoyed tossing aside
the damp straw and sawdust, and
dragging out the great crystal blocks,
especially if there was ice-cream in
prospect. 4tidntjc MOnthig.